40 GIANT FISHES 



shelter within the gullet or even in the stomach of one or 

 other of the parents, but such a belief is clearly based upon 

 faulty observation. 



The flesh of these Sharks is white and firm, but is very 

 tough and is said to have an unpleasant smell. It is canned 

 for food in some countries, however, and is also employed as 

 fertilizer. The natives of the Philippines and other parts of 

 the Orient eat it fresh, and at one time it was an article of 

 diet among the poorer classes in Italy. The liver is rich in 

 oil, and the skin provides a valuable economic product. With 

 the dermal denticles untouched, the skin makes a good 

 shagreen, from which are manufactured sword scabbards and 

 coverings for sword grips, expensive Morocco bindings, 

 coverings for jewel cases, and other articles ; the crude skin 

 is also converted into rasps for the use of cabinet-makers and 

 metal polishers. With the denticles removed, and suitably 

 tanned, the skin is converted into a durable leather, which is 

 in some demand for shoes, bags, etc. In Ceylon, the Philip- 

 pines and elsewhere there is a flourishing trade in the fins of 

 these and other sharks and rays, which are exported in a 

 dried state for making shark-fin soup. The delicate fin-rays 

 are the essential parts for this purpose, as they dissolve into 

 gelatine of pleasant flavour. The fins are cut from the body, 

 dusted with a mixture of hot wood ashes and powdered salt, or 

 with lime, and afterwards dried in the sun or smoked over a fire, 

 according to the prevailing weather. The finished product, 

 which is brittle, crisp, and pale blue-grey in colour, is then 

 graded, baled and shipped, the principal markets being China, 

 Hong Kong, Singapore and Siam The backbones of Blue 

 Sharks are sometimes made up into walking-sticks by sailors, 

 who are said also to cut out the crumbly limy ear-stones for 

 medicinal use. Many of the species give excellent sport to 

 the sea angler. 



The terms " requin " or " requiem " appear to have been 

 first applied to these Sharks by French sailors, who regarded 

 them as highly dangerous. The scientific name, Carcharinus, 

 is derived from two Greek words meaning " jagged " and 

 " file ". 



